Tax Day is Coming Up, and So Is the NWTRCC National Gathering

Tax Day (the day when income tax returns are
due in the United States) is coming up, and war tax resisters around the
country are planning their outreach and protest activities. Check
NWTRCC’s list of Tax Day actions to find one in your area.

Also: the next biannual
NWTRCC National Gathering
will be held from May 4–6 in Los
Angeles. It’s a great opportunity for new resisters or people curious about
resistance to hear from the experiences of people who have been resisting for
decades.

I’ll be there and will introduce a workshop on Quaker war tax resistance by
giving an overview of the history of war tax resistance in the Society of
Friends, before turning things over to the Christians to discuss among
themselves how war tax resistance fits into modern Christian practice.

If you think you’re ready to really #resist, you might want to hit the books
first. A good place to start might be the recently-released
Basics of
Resistance, cowritten by Claire Wolfe and Kit Perez.

Billed as book #1 of a promised upcoming series of “Practical Freedomista”
books, Basics of Resistance gives a birds’-eye
overview of the practicalities of resistance activities. It covers lessons
from past resisters, with an eye to bringing them up to date so they remain
relevant in an era of ubiquitous networked government surveillance and modern
internet-fueled people power.

Freedom needs fighters. But it also needs people who can perpetrate a damn
good joke at a tyrant’s expense, then slink away into the night. It needs
tricksters who are willing to throw a monkeywrench into the system. It needs
communicators who use unconventional techniques to change hearts and minds.
It needs Robin Hoods who remind ordinary folks that someone clever and daring
is on their side.

Freedom needs dedicated people who can see past instant gratification or
personal validation in favor of making a difference that could echo for
generations. The activities those dedicated souls pursue are boundless and
varied. All come under the heading of resistance.

This book is for you if you’ve realized that polite political action is not
enough. You want to do more. You want to be more than just somebody who
grouses about the present and hopes for change.

As the emphasis on “freedom” suggests, the authors represent the libertarian
wing of the #resistance, and so some of their rhetoric and of their activism
bailiwick will probably not appeal to people of a more leftish or
government-tolerant bent. But their practical advice about resistance, which
is the main focus of the book, will be useful to people anywhere on the
political spectrum, and the authors are ecumenical in the examples they draw on
and the predecessors they consult. “Whether or not we agree with the politics
or methods of other resisters,” the authors write, “we can learn from their
successes and failures.” So immigrant rights activists and the Animal
Liberation Front appear side-by-side with foes of Planned Parenthood and
paleoconservative anti-tax crusader Vivien Kellems in some of the real-world
examples the book illustrates, and the authors aren’t ashamed to recommend
left-winger Saul Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals as
required reading.

If you’re interested in upping the ante of your activism, this book will help
you consider how to lay the groundwork for taking that next step.

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